WEST COAST NOTES

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18545, 21 November 1925, Page 9

WEST COAST NOTES

! CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. | (special to "the mess.") GREYMOUTH, November 20. The monthly meeting of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce was held this afternoon. Present: Messrs V. R. Kettle (chairman), J. McLean, "\V. H. I'arfitr, A. Naylor, and F. A. Kitohing- | ham. An apology was received from Mr A. E. Firman. With reference to the Chamber's letter reminding the Minister of Pub- j lie Works that tlie sum of £2OOO ap- j peared on tho Estimates for additions ; to the Greymouth Post Ofliee and C'ustomshouse. the Minister ivroic staling that -works of a more urgent nature than those refcred to had to take precedence. and there was "no immediate intention to erect a. new Customshonse in Greymouth. The General Manager of the Tourist Department wrote that his Department's display of photographs at the Dunedin Exhibition would be representative of all parts of the Dominion, including the Grey district. A long discussion took place regarding a petition front about IJO residents of Paroa asking that alterations be made in the Wistland section time-table to meet the convenience of school children and others. It was stated by members that although Greymouth was the chief centre of population on the West Coast, it was receiving little consideration from the Railway Departments .There was a strong tendency towavds centralisation. which was detrimental to the interests of the whole Dominion. Appeals had been made to Messrs Dent and Sword, who were placed in the position of sitting in judgment 011 themselves, and the only course left to the Chamber w;is to deal directly with the Minister of Railways. regarding the petition, the present time-table meant a serious loss of time to school children, who should be the. first consideration of the State. Businessmen were also affected owing to mails being delayed. It was resolved to forward the petition of the Paroa residents to the Minister of Railways, and at'tho same time emphatically t.o protest against alterations beinjr made in tho time-table without the local bodies interested haying an opportunity of expressing their views. ' It was decided to write to the Tourist Department drawing its attention to the matter of placing a sum of monev on the Intimates for the construction of a tourist track to Mitchell's waterfalls, near Lake Brunner, and also to forwaTil a copy of the letter to the Grey County Council. The action of the State Advances Department in sending valuers to the West Coast who were not versed in local conditions was discussed, and instances were quoted of their lack of knowledge when recommending loans. It was resolved to communicate with the Minister of Lands suggesting the appointment of valuers with a better knowledge .of local conditions. Personal. Sir Ji. Hcaton Rhodes, Minister of Defence "and Commissioner of State Forests, passed through Greymouth by special ear to-day bound for Holcitika. He was accompanied by Lady Rhodes, Miss Hrncs, Mr~L. M. Ellis (Director of Forestry), and Mr A. D. McGavock (Conservator of Forests for "Westland), They expect to return north on Sunday, probablv travelling as far as Otira that day. Sir Heatbn is due at Dunedin on Thursday next. Mr Harold Bowman, 'of the Wellington postal staff, who has been on a brief visit to Greymouth, will leave on his return to-morrow. | Mr and Mrs M. J. Fogarty will leave for Dunedin to-morrow. Mr P. Low, of Taylorvillc, who has I been in Nelson for the pastfew .weeks receiving medical attention, is progressing satisfactorily. < . Mr J. McNair, District Engineer of Railways, left this morning for Otira and Christchurch. Mr and Mrs P. James, of Ly ttclton, are visiting the "West Coast. Mrs M. A. Stedman leaves for Christchurch to-morrow. Messrs E. Walker (railway locomotive foreman) and I. Bkrkle (railway booking clerk) will return from Canterbury t>v to-morrow's express. Mr f. P. Callan, of the railway staff, will leave for Christchurch and Timaru on Mondav on holiday. Mr A. B. Franklin, of Ngakawau, leaves to-morrow for Christchurch and Dunedin. Mr L. Peacock, of the. Westport Coal Company's clerical staff, Denniston, and Mrs Peacock, left to-day for Dunedin. Messrs F. J. Rasmussen and R. A. Wilson left Westport to-day, via Nelson, on their return to Christchurch. Milling Matters. Owing to the large amount of preliminary work, progress with repairs to the Wealth of Nations mine shaft has been slow, but sufficient repairs have now been effected to enable two shifts to be engaged, so that work can proceed continuously for sixteen hours daily. A Rcefton report states that the Alexander Reefs yielded 8G: ounces of retorted gold from forty tons of stone, valued at £340. Tourist Traffic. A party of ten American tourists, who have been touring the West Coast, left Greymouth for Reefton to-day. - A further party of the same number is also due this week. The New Zealand Tourist Department has completed negotiations with Pacific Tours, Limited, a- leading American agency, to take charge of all its bookings for the Dominion. The local office anticipates heavy American and Australian bookings for the West Coast during the summer months. Tunnel Traffic. Traffic, through the Otira tunnel for the week ending to-morrow is approximately 690S tons. Accident. Jas. Dempsey, employed at the Rnatapu sawmill, was badly crushed through a large log rolling over part of his body. He was removed to the .Westland Hospital for treatment. Grey Power Board. At a special meeting of the • Grey Electric Power Board this evening the following tenders for ' s„treet-lighting equipment were accepted:—Three hundred and fifty street- lighting fixtures, National Electric Company, £549; constant current transformers, 'National Electric Company, £570; six hundred series lamps', British General • Electric Company, £75; triple braided aerial cable, Samuel Brown and - Son, £477 ]5«; time switches, J. J. Niven and Co., £69 2s 6d; insulators, National Electric Engineering Company,- £lOl ss. Grey School Committee. "The Greymouth Main School Committee met this evening. Present —Messrs J. Tennent (chairman), 8., J. Williams, J. Lamberton, W. Scott, B. Barrowman, H. Hening, P. Beck, and T. B. Baty. The rector's monthly report stated that the attendance had been good, although several children had been absent a few days through contagions skin diseases. The average attendances were:—Grejrmonth Main School 571, and Blaketown 103. ont of a roll of 609 and 110 respectively.. The response from parents willing to pay off the debt

on the heating apparatus was very poor; only four attending. It would mean a united effort by parents and committee to pay off the debt of £125. A letter was read from a parent objecting to the method of raising money by the aid of guessing competitions, as they encouraged the gambling evil,, and were not conducive to raising the tone of tie school. The letter was received, and it was decided that ti.o action be taken in. the meantime. The Education Board advised that sundry repairs to the school buildings would.be attended to. The inspector's report on the Blaketown school was very satisfactory, and eulogistic references were made to the conduet of the school. A gala day and concert in aid of the school funds will be held on. December 9th and 11th respectively. v